Donald Trump orders creation of a US crypto reserve

US President Donald Trump directed the digital-asset markets task force to “set in motion” the creation of a strategic crypto reserve that will include XRP, SOL and ADA.

“And, obviously, BTC and ETH, like other valuable cryptocurrencies, will be the heart of the reserve. I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum!” the head of state added.

Trump delivers on a promise, but questions linger

Building a national stockpile of digital gold was among his campaign pledges. Many in the community expected that, upon returning to the White House on January 20, Trump would move early to create a strategic bitcoin reserve.

The US president established a task force on digital-asset markets led by David Sacks, the “crypto czar”. He called a priority for the body an assessment of forming a national fund in virtual currencies.

Vague wording from officials and the absence of an explicit mention of bitcoin disappointed some. Supporters of the first cryptocurrency noted that before the election Trump spoke specifically about a bitcoin reserve.

The @POTUS campaign had the core tenets of
(1) banning your CBDC technology
(2) a strategic BITCOIN stockpile

There’s no ambiguity.

— Pierre Rochard (@BitcoinPierre) January 23, 2025

Following the president’s remarks, the assets he cited in the context of a national crypto fund jumped sharply. Over the past 24 hours, ADA rose by more than 50%.

Yet total market capitalisation fell by 8% in 24 hours to $2.76 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance over the period slid from 54.91% to 48.84%.

Trump’s choice to form a multi-asset reserve surprised many. Peter Schiff, a well-known critic of digital gold, called the inclusion of altcoins illogical.

I get the rationale for a Bitcoin reserve. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. We have a gold reserve. Bitcoin is digital gold, which is better than analog gold. So let’s create a Bitcoin reserve too. But what’s the rationale for an XRP reserve? Why the hell would we need that?

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) March 2, 2025

He said he disagreed with the initiative overall, but could at least understand the case for bitcoin.

“But what’s the rationale for an XRP reserve? Why the hell would we need that?” asked the founder of Euro Pacific Asset Management.

Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at Bitwise, called it a “huge political miscalculation” by Trump to underestimate bitcoin’s uniqueness. He warned that including altcoins in the fund risks prompting suspicions of insider dealing.

Huge political miscalculation by Trump in underestimating just how crucial it was for the Strategic Reserve to focus solely on Bitcoin.

Sad!

— Jeff Park (@dgt10011) March 2, 2025

“This is politically negative, even among crypto enthusiasts,” Park stressed.

Casa CEO Nick Neuman argued that digital gold is the only cryptoasset that makes “any logical sense whatsoever” as part of reserves.

The only crypto asset that makes any logical sense whatsoever as part of a country’s strategic reserve is Bitcoin.

You keep a reserve of finite supply assets because of their scarcity.

Infinite supply digital assets — especially ones with zero utility — do not fit the bill. pic.twitter.com/aI6lFuKhrE

— Nick Neuman (@Nneuman) March 2, 2025

“Digital assets with infinite supply, especially those with zero utility, do not fit the bill,” he said.

In a similar vein, Riot Platforms vice-president of research Pierre Rochard said altcoins “will inevitably be demonetised and depreciate relative to bitcoin”, from which the reserve would “naturally” be composed.

“Guys, this is basic economics,” Rochard emphasised.

Mint Ventures partner Alex Xu drew attention to the sizeable sponsorship that the companies behind XRP, SOL and ADA provided to Trump before and after the election. He suggested this could explain their inclusion in the national crypto fund.

“But this absurd approach will only weaken the seriousness of a strategic bitcoin reserve and further reduce the chances of the relevant bill being adopted at the federal level,” Xu argued.

Signs of insider trading flagged after Trump’s move

Eric Trump called it “genius” to announce the creation of a national crypto fund on a Sunday, when “traditional markets are closed and Wall Street sleeps”.

I love the genius of announcing a strategic reserve on a Sunday, when traditional markets are closed and Wall Street sleeps. For the first time, retail investors win. Traditional finance better catch up, or it will quickly become extinct. The world no longer runs on a Mon-Friday,… pic.twitter.com/EPtbEisbdI

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) March 3, 2025

“For the first time, retail investors win. Traditional finance better catch up, or it will quickly become extinct. The world no longer runs Monday–Friday, 9 to 5,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, experts pointed to signs of possible insider activity around the White House initiative. The Moon Show founder Carl Moon noted roughly $200m of long positions in bitcoin and Ethereum opened just before the president’s statement. To him, it looked suspicious.

This $200 million long on Bitcoin and Ethereum before the Bitcoin strategic reserve announcement, could be the biggest INSIDER TRADE I’ve ever seen.

Smells illegal. pic.twitter.com/9tFEMo7IfT

— Carl Moon (@TheMoonCarl) March 2, 2025

At The Kobeissi Letter they noted that, with 50x leverage, a 2% decline would have triggered liquidations. The announcement of the reserve followed.

“Did anyone know?” the outlet asked.

A trader known as Kate The Alt pointed to an anomalous one-off inflow of XRP to Binance before Trump’s message.

Definition of Insider Trading pic.twitter.com/kgUR6pk3uf

— Kate The Alt (@kate_young_ju) March 3, 2025

“Definition of insider trading,” she concluded.

Earlier, Cobo and F2Pool co-founder Shen Yu linked the continuation of the bull market to clarity on the prospects for a US bitcoin reserve.